Did I Not Deserve A Goodbye?
by SongForThePainter
Summary: Hook left the moment they returned to Storybrooke, hoping to give Emma a chance at happiness. But when he sees her 6 months later, it seems he had condemned her to a life he never wished for. OOC Neal
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Take Me Far From This Less Then Perfect Design

It has been months since Emma had seen Hook and her life had fallen into a rhythmic routine since they got back from Neverland. Henry lived with her now, in a comfortable 2 bedroom apartment and Regina got to see him anytime she wanted, which was often. The two older woman were getting along humanely, bonding over the relief of their sons rescue.

But unfortunately, Emma had also returned to an old part of her life in a small way. Something that brought destruction to an otherwise content situation. She had started seeing Neal again; accepting his apologies that he never meant any of the things that hurt her during the journey to Neverland and their return. She was nothing if not understanding of how Neverland could change a person. Make them act unlike themselves. And when her first love came back to her a few days later, she accepted his apology in the hopes that she could make a happy family for Henry. A family that her son deserved. But Neal wasn't the man she remembered when she was a reckless teenager. He was dangerous.

"Emma." he called, pushing her bedroom door open hard enough to slam against the wall behind it. Her body reacted in surprise, sitting straight up against her headboard on her bed, setting her magazine down on the nightstand.

"Neal. I didn't think you were coming over until tomorrow morning. It's almost midnight." she said, glancing over at her alarm clock. She stayed calm, keeping her voice steady as not to wake Henry who was just a wall away.

"I'm your true love, Emma. I didn't think I needed to announce when I was coming to see you." he smirked, climbing into bed with her. He hovered over her body, pressing her wrists against the mattress before slamming his mouth down on hers.

"Neal, come on. I'm exhausted, let's just get some sleep." she urged, bucking against him, yanking her wrists to no avail.

He moved his lips to her neck, biting on her pulse point causing her to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from screaming at the pain.

"Neal, stop." she said firmly, kicking her legs as he pressed his body harder against her, his hand moving to the waistband of her sweatpants.

The second he released her wrist, Emma swung her hand back and smacked him across the face. She pulled her leg up quickly, smashing her knee between his legs. He rolled over to his side in pain while she immediately scrambled out from beneath him. She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to keep her voice at a lower register, as shaky and uncertain as it had started to sound.

"Get out of here. I am done waiting around for you to become the man I fell in love with. It's been over ten years and that man is gone. I want you to stay away from me and my son." she seethed, opening her bedroom door and swinging her arm towards the exit.

"You think you can do better then me?" he laughed, slamming the door closed and pushing her hard against the wall she shared with Henrys room. Emma closed her eyes at the noise she knew would wake him. Her wrists were turning black and blue from the pressure he was putting on them as he held her against the wall, his face inches from her.

"You should be _grateful _that I am forgiving you for everything you've done in the past. You should be begging on your knees for me to stay." he spat. A loud clap rang out through the room as he slammed the back of his hand across her cheek, whipping her head to the side.

"Or maybe you only get on your knees for pirates." he said with malice, digging his nails into her flesh as he tightened his grip on her wrists. She bit back a cry.

"Let go of me." she hissed, narrowing her eyes and glaring at him with more confidence then she knew was real.

They both looked towards the closed door as a banging sound came from out in the living room.

_The front door _Emma knew the sound. And she knew it was Henry running from the apartment like she had told him to do if it ever sounded like his father was there.

"Do you get a lot of late night visitors or something?" Neal asked, even angrier as he threw her on the bed and peeked out into the living room, seeing that it was empty.

"That's just my neighbors. The walls are thin." she lied simply, standing up from the bed defensively.

"I'll be back in the morning. And I am going to see Henry whether you like it or not because I am his father." he sneered, slamming the door behind him as he left. Emma slid down her bedroom wall until she was on the ground, her face in her hands as her body wrenched with silent tears.

_When did I let this happen? Why did I take him back? I knew what he was capable of._

**Meanwhile...**

"Captain Jones?" Henry called out across the crowded bar. He had spent the last hour walking across town to the docks. The waters were lined with ships and the streets filled with bars and shabby apartments, deserted parks sprinkled in between.

"What's a young boy like you doing looking for Hook in the middle of the night?" the bartender asked, waving for Henry to come to the counter. Henry climbed up on the bar stool, taking the glass of soda the old man had poured with a thank you.

"I'm a friend of his. Is he here?" He inquired again, looking around the bar once more.

"It's been a long time, lad." a voice called from down the bar. Captain Hook was sitting a few stools away, a tumbler of run in his hand no doubt. "Why don't we talk somewhere less illegal for you to be in, aye?" he smirked, leading Henry outside and across the street to the docks.

"I figured you left town after we got back. I was just taking a shot in the dark looking for you there." Henry explained, following the pirate up onto the Jolly Roger. Hook was silent as he walked down to his quarters, tossing a blanket at the young boy.

"It's good to see you, kid but I m pretty certain it's past your bedtime. Unless your mother lets you wander the streets alone on the shady side of town." Hook said, sitting down at the small dining table and removing his boots.

"Why have you been avoiding her?" he asked, ignoring his question and wrapping the blanket around his shoulders.

"Your father turned out to be alive when she believed him to be dead. I may be a pirate, boy, but I am not so selfish that I would stand between true love." Hook replied, tipping back in his chair casually.

"You think she loves him?" he asked, a disgusted grimace on his face. "I mean, she did once. I've heard the stories and he is my dad. But didn't she tell you her secret on the island to free him from the cage?"

"No, I figured it was something I wouldn't want to hear. How would you know anyways? You weren't there." Hook inquired.

"She told me when we got back everything that happened. Her secret wasn't what you seem to think it was. She said she wished he really _was_ dead." Henry explained, sitting across from Hook in the shabby wooden chair.

"That is a tad different then I imagined." he admitted.

"You should at least go see her." Henry suggested simply, tracing the carved lines in the wooden table.

"You stumbled into a bar past midnight and sought me out to tell me to talk to your mother? She wants nothing to do with me, lad. You're wasting your time." Hook exclaimed, standing up and walking to the door in annoyance.

"So you're just going to let my dad win?"

"Are you bloody mad, boy?" Hook rubbed his hand over his face in confusion. "First you say she doesn't love him and now you are saying they are back together since our return from the island?"

"Did she never tell you about how persuasive he can be when it comes to her?" Henry asked, surprised Emma never told Hook of the violence she use to endure. The violence she was once again stuck within.

"Aye, I'm sure he's right charming." Hook rolled his eyes, swinging the door opened. "Come on, lad I'll walk you home. It's too late for you to chance the trip back."

"So you two kiss but you know nothing of her past." Henry mumbled, draping the blanket on the back of the chair as Hook laced his boots back up. Henry followed the pirate back onto the streets, heading on the path back to his home.

"I don't understand adults." he added, walking beside the pirate.

"She told you everything you missed, eh?"

"Yep." he popped. "And when I asked why she was giving my dad another chance, she said something that I can only assume related to you."

"Which was?" Hook drawled, turning the corner to the boys apartment building.

"She said everyone else leaves." Henry said in a hushed tone, locking eyes with the pirate.

"Bloody hell." Hook exclaimed with frustration.

"Henry!" a voice called out from down the street. The boy rushed towards the woman as she ran towards him, throwing her arms around him as she skidded to her knees to meet his level. Henry hugged her back.

Hook stepped back a pace when he saw the shining blonde hair in front of him, enveloping her son. It was Emma Swan and he hadn't seen her in many months. But it seemed much had changed.

"Where have you been? I told you when you think it's dangerous, go upstairs to your grandparents apartment." she rushed out the words, holding him at arms length, her hands on his shoulders.

"Mom, your face." Henry muttered with no surprise when he saw a dark black and blue mark forming on face. It started on her temple and looked to be appearing down to her jawbone.

"It's nothing, kid. Don't worry about me." she said with a forced smile, standing on her feet now.

"I should probably be going. Pirate things to attend to and what not." Hook said, making his presence known.

"Hook." Emma whispered, surprised to see him for the first time since they arrived back in Storybrooke. "I'm sorry if he was bothering you. He knows not to be out this late." she said, keeping her face turned away from him.

"Mom, don't. Let him help you." Henry urged, pulling her arm forward, forcing her to take a step towards Hook.

"Henry, enough." she said firmly. "Thank you for taking him home. I'm really sorry." she directed at the pirate, pulling her hair over her shoulder to hide the side of her face where the mark was becoming more clear with every minute.

"He's no trouble. I'll see ya later, lad. Gnight Swan." he said, turning on his heels and heading back down the street.

"Come on, Henry. Let's go inside. We should both get some sleep. Everything is fine now. He's gone." She said, putting her arms around his shoulders and turning him around to their apartment.

"No, mom. He'll be back. You have to tell someone. Tell Captain Jones." he pressed, pointing down the street at the pirates back, only a few paces away.

"It's not his problem, kid. It's mine. And I will find a way to fix this." she promised.

"He loves you. And so do I. And whether you want to accept it or not, you need help. And this is me helping you."

"Henry, don't -" but he cut her off, his voice louder then she had ever heard from him.

"HE HITS HER!" he yelled down the street that Captain Jones was retreating down. He stopped in his tracks as the boys words rang clear as day through the silent night air. He turned around slowly.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I must have heard you wrong. One more time for me, boy." Hook's voice dripping with suppressed rage as he walked back towards the small family. In only a few long strides, he was standing in front of the boy again, Emma just a pace behind him running her hand over her hair in frustration.

"My dad. Baefire. He hurts her. That's why she wont look at you. You'd see it on her face." Henry exclaimed, feeling his mothers disapproval behind him as he locked eyes with the pirate.

"Henry, stop. This has nothing to do with-" She was only able to get a few words out before Hook cut her off.

"Alright, lad. I have a bloody brilliant plan. How about you go up to your royal grandparents flat and let them know your mother will be up shortly. Her and I need to have a little chat. Savy?" he asked, leading the boy inside while Emma turned her back to them, rubbing her forehead anxiously.

"Yea." he replied simply. "Mom, I'm sorry." he called out. Emma shot him a small smile before waving him inside. The moment he disappeared from site, Hook stomped back over to her spot on the lawn.

"It seems we have some catching up to do, Swan." he said with narrowed eyes, his stare an icy blue she rarely saw from him.

"Now how about you look at me and we can start there. It's been a long time since I've seen that pretty face of yours. Let's see if it looks as I remember." he demanded, stepping up toe to toe with her now as she looked out to her side across the lawn and into the forest.

"This is ridiculous. You have _no_ right to demand anything from me. You left. The second we got back from Neverland, you were _gone_" she sneered, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Look at me, Swan." he said again, his voice tighter then before. 

Emma sigh before whipping her head back, her hair falling down her shoulders as she stared directly into his eyes, the mark clearly visible. "Now that we are all caught up, you can go now." she hissed, rolling her eyes.

"What the hell happened?" he asked loudly, reaching out towards her face. Before his fingers could graze the surface, she countered his movements, stepping away from him.

"It's none of your concern. Henry must have gotten scared and sought you out but everything is fine now so you should leave." she assured him, turning back towards her home.

"Of course he's bloody scared. He's just a boy living in a violent home!" Hook exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about Henry! Neal would never hurt him. I wouldn't let that happen to my son!" Emma shouted, offended at his jabs at her parenting skills.

"Oh, I see." he mocked. "So it's alright for you to get smacked around but if it were the boy, _that's _when you would start to care?" his tone outraged by her lack of self preservation.

"Exactly. Now that we are on the same page-" he stopped her.

"You don't care that you're getting hurt? You don't care that you have a bruise on your beautiful face the size of a bloody fist? _HIS _fist?" Hook enunciated.

"Who the hell cares! As long as Henry is ok, then what does it matter if Neal takes his anger out on me. Better me then him." she yelled.

Hook stomped over to her, pushing her back against the railing of the front apartment steps as a clap of thunder sounded overhead in the night sky.

"He shouldn't be taking his _anger out _on anyone. Much less a lady." he seethed.

Emma's eyes filled with tears as she tore her eyes away from his, looking down at his chest and shutting her eyes tightly, holding the water back. She shook her head slowly before looking up at him again, his features softening the moment he saw her face.

"Where were you?" she whispered, a single tear falling down her cheek silently, her hand on his chest.

"You didn't need me. Baefire was alive. You rescued your son. You could have your happily ever after." he sighed, running his fingers over her bruised cheekbone.

She laughed dryly. "Is that what this looks like?" she whispered.

No. This certainly wasn't what he had wanted for her. And after 6 months of letting her go, he was standing in front of her now, ready to bring her will to fight back from where ever Neal had hidden it.

**Please Review. TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: She's Got All My Dreams, I've Got These Broken Things.

"Henry. It's the middle of the night. Is everything ok?" Snow asked, inviting her grandson inside and leading him into the kitchen. She began to stir together a batch of hot chocolate as David came into the room.

"Henry. What a surprise. Are you okay? Where's your mother?" he asked, looking around the room for Emma.

"She'll be up to get me in a few minutes. My dad came over so I came up here." he explained simply, smiling as his grandmother handing him the hot mug of cocoa.

"David, you really should do something. I know she says everything is fine but I think he's bad for her." Snow worried, pulling her husband over to the living room to speak in whispers while Henry relaxed in the kitchen.

"What can I do? She's a stubborn girl. She wont listen to me, you know she wont." he said in a hushed tone. But Henry heard none the less and spoke up immediately with a grin.

"My mom can be kind of stubborn I guess." he said, earning a look from the adults as they came to sit beside him at the kitchen table. "And you're probably right, she wouldn't listen to you guys. But I found the person she will listen to. And they are talking right now. He's going to help her." he said hopefully, sipping his drink with a grin.

"Who would that be, Henry?" Snow asked. But before he could answer, David spoke up.

"Hook." he whispered, running his hands over his face.

"The Captain? I thought he left when we returned." she questioned, surprised at the turn of events and exhausted from being awake at this odd hour of the night.

They were interrupted but a soft knock on the door. Snow walked over to open it, revealing her daughter and the pirate she journeyed with not so long ago.

"Come in, come in. Both of you." she smiled, grabbing both their hands and pulling them inside the living room.

"You mortals are so hospitable." Hook mocked with a smirk, walking away from the group to stand behind Henry's spot in the kitchen. He put his hands on the back of his chair and tipped the young boy back barely an inch.

"How's it going, kid?" he asked, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Better now that you're here." Henry laughed a boyish laugh causing Hooks grin to turn even more cocky.

"I get that all the time, lad." he replied, sitting in the chair opposite Henry at the table while Emma took a seat next to her mother in the living room.

"So what's going on, Emma? Is everything alright?" Snow asked, putting her hand on her daughters knee.

"It's actually about Neal. Him and I are no longer seeing eye to eye on a lot of things and I have decided it's best if he not come around anymore. I don't want him near me and I more importantly don't want him near Henry." she explained, tying her hair up in exhaustion.

"What happened to your face?" David asked with anger, crossing the room to stand in front of her.

"That's part of the problem, as it were." Hook chimed in, crossing his feet on top of the table as he leaned back in his chair.

"Neal did this?" Snow gasped, touching her daughters cheek before she pulled away. Emma stood up from the couch and paced into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around Henry from behind his seat and hugged him, the young boy smiling.

"And what the bloody hell is that." Hook exclaimed, pushing up from his seat and pushing her head roughly to the side. He grabbed her chin gently in his hand and tilted it up, revealing a large bite mark on her neck, the imprints of teeth clearly visible on her pale flesh.

"Oh my god, Emma." her mother cried, shaking her head. "We should've seen it. We should've protected you."

"It's my problem to solve." she said, tearing herself away from Hooks hold. He stepped back in surrender.

"I just wanted to let you guys know that if Neal comes around, he's not to go near Henry." she explained.

"No, darling that's not what you came here for. What she meant to say." Hook began. "Was that if you see Baefire around her flat or near the boy, you are to let me know. Us pirates have a way of handling such disgusting behavior. I'm docked on the other side of town. Find me if need be." he insisted, walking over to the door.

Hook looked over his shoulder one last time at Emma, speaking up once more. "You stay away from him, Swan. He's poison." he warned, bowing his head towards the royals in respect before heading back to his home for the night.

"So he didn't leave when we returned?" David asked once he was gone.

"He might as well have. He was nowhere to be found." Emma sneered, lacing her fingers with Henrys.

"Come on, kid. Let's go home and get some sleep." She urged, leading him towards the door.

"Thank you both for everything you've done for us." she said sincerely before heading back downstairs to her own apartment. She walked with Henry into his room, laying the warm comforter over him as his eyes started to close.

"I love you, Emma." he said as he fell asleep.

"I love you too, kid." she smiled, turning off his light and heading back into the living room.

"Your apartment is extremely easy to get into. It's a bit unsettling." a voice called out. She looked over with surprise to see a figure hidden in the shadows of the dark apartment, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, taking a step away as the man advanced towards her.

He simply replied with a smirk as his face came into view, continuing to walk towards her until she had no more space to counter him with. Emmas back was pressed up against her bedroom door as the man pressed his body against hers with insistence.

**Please Review :) **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: I Love You Because You Have Given Me No Choice

"You scared me half to death, _pirate." _Emma whispered, shoving his chest back with a laugh before running her hand over her hair in relief. "I thought you were.." but she trailed off, looking away. "Well, I thought you were someone else" she said simply

"You thought I was Baefire." he said, his words not a question but an absolute statement.

"Regardless, you shouldn't sneak into a persons home at" she glanced at the clock behind him hanging above the tv. "1:30 in the morning and scare the hell out of them." she exclaimed in a hushed voice, taking his wrist and leading him away from her room and into the spacious bathroom.

"Is there a reason we are in the loo, darling?" he drawled in confusion as she closed the door.

"Yes. My room is right next to Henry's and I don't want to wake him. He needs his rest." she said responsibly.

"Did you plan on us doing something together that would cause quite a bit of racket?" he smirked, taking a chunk of blonde waves between his fingers, his fingers grazing her cheek as he did so.

Emma swatted his hands away, taking a step back until she was backed up against the sink. She held her hand out, palm up in front of herself. "Don't. You are _not _allowed to come back after 6 months and act like you never left. You _did _leave and I'm not going to pretend like you didn't." she snapped, anger in her eyes.

"I didn't think you would be so bloody cross about it." he snapped back. "Far be it for me to do the right think and try to give you what you wanted." he said calmly, leaning back against the door.

"You never even asked me what I wanted. You just assumed you knew everything and made a decision based on falsities. A decision that hurt me!" she whispered harshly, pulling her hair back into a messy ponytail that fell to her shoulder blades. She sighed, frustrated at this seemingly endless day, her shoulder slumping forward as she looked down, leaning against the sink.

"You should really put some ice on that one. It looks worse then any love-bite I've ever seen." he said firmly, gesturing with his hook towards her neck. It was an angry shade of red, teeth marks cut into her flesh clearly.

"It's hardly a love-bite." she said rolling her eyes. She turned around against the sink, looking at her reflection in the mirror above it. She gasped softly, earning a hard frown from Hook.

"Shit, that does look worse then before." she muttered, opening the mirror and grabbing a small bag from inside She shut it quietly and examined the mark again, unzipping the bag and taking out a few bottles of makeup. She opened her powder and set it on the sink before dabbing a generous amount of foundation on a sponge and rubbing it on her neck.

"Worse then before? This isn't the first time you've been bitten like a bloody vampire?" he exclaimed in a whisper, still minding young ears not far away. "What's the matter with you, Swan. You're stronger then this." he said angrily.

"Did it ever occur to you that there might have been a reason behind my pessimism towards falling in love? Why I was slow to let myself get even remotely close to you." she asked, annoyed at the higher standards he seemed to hold her to above anyone else.

"And here I was thinking it was because you hated me." he said casually, not to keen on opening up as well.

Emma laughed genuinely for a moment, dabbing the brush coated in powder over the patch of drying makeup.

"Hated you?" she laughed again, her words tumbling out of her mouth before she could think of the implications.

"Killian, I loved you." she said lightly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her face changed slowly as her brain caught up with her words. She slowly set her brush down on the sink before turning around cautiously to face him.

"Hook, I-" but before she could say anything else, any words that would erase the truth she just spoke, he stopped her. He took two long strides towards her and pressed her back against the sink, his lips crushing hers with a desperation he'd never felt before.

Emma gasped in surprise, the sound escaping her mouth into his own. He kissed her urgently, willing her to let go of her emotional walls of self preservation. And she did. The blonde savior ran her hands up his arms until her fingers were laced around his neck, pressing her body against his as she nipped his bottom lip with a smile.

"I thought we established this was a one time thing." she teased as he hoisted her onto the sink by her bottom. She tossed her head back with a laugh as he trailed small kisses up the uninjured side of her neck. It tickled her sightly as shivers ran up her spine at his gentle touch.

"By all means then, love. Tell me to stop." he dared, rubbing her cheek softly with his thumb before kissing her lips with a tenderness she wasn't use to. She smirked against his lips, ready to say something witty. But before she could, she suddenly found herself saying exactly what he dared her to.

"Stop." she whispered urgently, wrapping her arms back around his neck, letting him help her get down from the sink silently. She put a finger over her mouth, signaling him to keep quiet. She glided over to the bathroom door, pressing her ear against it. She heard the front doorknob being shaken and pushed. Someone was attempting to get inside her home. And she knew exactly who that someone was.

"Neal." she muttered to herself. Before she could put together a safe,practical plan of action, Emma threw the bathroom door open and stormed over to the entrance of her home, still keeping her steps quiet for Henry's sake. Hook was following at her heels.

Her fingers gripped the handle before Hook pulled her arm back gently. "Emma." he whispered, pulling her body back against his chest as he moved them back away from the door. He rarely called her by her first name and when he did, it filled her with a sense of reality. It felt as if all her emotions that had just been heightened; whether it was fear, anger, sadness. It was as if the calm tone of her name from his lips brought her back to a tranquil state of mind.

She took a deep breath, leaning her head back against his chest, nodding in agreement. He couldn't get in and she knew that. Hook was a brilliant pirate, and if she was being honest, a skilled thief. Neal was just a man who thought rage could break down her door. And lucky for him, he was wrong. Because had he broken down that door, he wouldn't have been met with the detached, fragile blonde woman from his past. He would've been met with a one handed pirate with a drinking problem. And an angry one at that. One that was ready to protect the woman he had been hurting as well as her son.

_As if they were his family._

**_Should I keep going? Review please _**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey you guys. Thank you so much for the reviews. They really do motivate me to update as soon as possible for you guys. And because I got such a welcoming response to the last chapter, I wrote this short one to follow it. Two in one night? ITS CRAAAAYYYYZZZAAAAY 3 thanks again you guys. Please review some more and let me know what you think. Enjoy **

Chapter Four: You Had Me At Hello

Emma sighed, heavy with relief as the sounds outside the door stopped, footsteps following the silence until there was nothing to be heard.

"See, he left. Everything is fine, sweetheart." he assured her, running his hand and the curve of his hook up her arms, warming her shivering body.

"I hate this." she whispered, turning around in his arms until they wrapped around her again, holding her protectively. She pressed her forehead to his chest, looking down at their feet. "I hate feeling afraid. I've never been afraid of anything in my life." she said with a dry laugh. "I've always found it a rather useless emotion. Being afraid of something meant that you had no control over your emotions. And I told myself a long time ago I would never lose control."

"You may think this to be a load of pirate twaddle but don't you think that perhaps locking away your emotions entirely is just as painful as losing control over them once in a while." he said cautiously, attempting to be honest while still trying his best not to scare her into retreating within herself again.

"I suppose that's true. All this time, I never let myself get close to anyone but that doesn't mean I haven't missed it. I have. And then you and I went up on that damn beanstalk." she said with a small grin, looking up at him with her chin against his chest.

"Aye." he urged her to continue, pushing a chuck of blonde waves out of her eyes to fall back over her shoulders. His blue eyes pierced her dark ones as he waited for her to find the words.

"It changed everything. I felt it the moment it happened. They way I was with you, it was like..." she gathered her thoughts. "It was like I didn't have to think or act any different then what came natural to me. It was as if I was alone when I was with you because that's how comfortable I was being around you. And I knew you were trouble." she said, poking his chest before pressing up on her toes to kiss his lips with the love she couldn't let herself verbally voice again.

"Yet you continued to push me away, Swan. Tell me, why was that?" he questioned, pecking her lips once more before leading her into her room, shutting the door quietly behind them. He stood by the threshold as he watched her crawl over her bed, sliding under the covers as her eyes immediately showed their exhaustion.

She cupped her hand over her mouth as she yawned silently, rolling over on her side to face the empty space in the bed. "You have my permission to get in bed, Captain." she teased weakly, tucking her hands under her head as she closed her eyes.

"As you wish." he whispered, removing his jacket and boots before laying on top of the covers beside her. He turned on his side to face her, stoking her soft cheek with his fingertips, earning a content moan from her sleepy form.

"You never answered my inquiry, love. Why did you push me away even after you felt those things on our journey for the trinket?" he asked, reaching over to turn off her bedside lamp, covering the room in darkness before closing his eyes himself.

"Because I knew I could love you. And it terrified me." she admitted, reaching across the sheets until she found his hand. She laced her fingers with his and brought it to her lips, kissing his fingers gratefully before laying their entwined hands between their bodies.

"Rest easy tonight, Swan. No one is going to hurt you tonight." he whispered, removing his hand from hers once she was asleep and tracing his fingertips over her bruised cheek and down to her bitten neck.

"He wont come near you or your boy." he finished, wrapping his arm around her until her sleeping form was resting safely against his chest in his embrace. Only when she was protectively against him did he let himself fall into a peaceful sleep beside her.

**:D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this chapter update is so short. I just got home from working a double shift at work ( holidays in retail = insanity ) so i am pooped! This is all i could muster before I felt myself falling asleep on my laptop 3 thank you all so much for your reviews. Keep em coming, I love to hear from you guys. Enjoy.**

Chapter Five: I Swear We Can Make This Last

"Emma." she heard a voice call from the foot of her bed. She moaned and turned over in protest.

"Emma, wake up." She knew it was her son trying to rouse her awake but it was a Sunday and it was never an easy task.

"Henry." she grumbled, reaching over the bed and scooping him up in her arms, throwing him on top of her thick comforter. He laughed in surprise before shoving her roughly until her feet were forced onto the floor beside her bed.

"Get up get up." he urged excitedly. "The Captain came to the door this morning while I was watching tv and brought muffins from Grannys for me. Said you could have one too if I wanted to share."

"Oh is that so. Did you say thank you?" Emma asked, standing up slowly before reaching her arms high above her head as she stretched.

"Aye, he was quite the mannerly young lad." Hook mocked, leaning against the doorway to her bedroom. His eyes looked her up and down as her shirt exposed her entire stomach as she stretched. She turned to see him as he spoke, leaning casually against the frame and pulled her shirt down with a smirk in his direction.

"Well, lead the way kid." she pushed her son towards the door, making sure to knock her shoulder hard against the pirate playfully as she past. He chuckled warmly at her before following her back into the kitchen. He watched as she prepared her morning coffee, adding no cream or sugar and poured a small glass of orange juice for her son. They were the picture of a perfect family and he was enjoying being able to witness their normal, every day life together.

"So did you just come by to see my mom?" Henry asked with a hidden smile, looking down at his muffin in embarrassment.

Emma rolled her eyes at the hidden meaning in her sons tone, sipping her strong coffee as she leaned against the counter in the kitchen. Henry and Hook sat across from one another at the table, the pirates chair leaned back off the floor casually.

"Of course, lad. Look at that stunning face she's got." he replied, laughing as he looked at Henry when he gave his response. Hi stare then drifted to Emma, however, and the smile was gone. He suddenly looked more serious then she usually saw him, a smirk nowhere to be seen on his face as he stared into her eyes with the sincerity of his words.

She is pretty I guess. For a mom." Henry joked, looking at Emma and laughing as she shot him a look of mock offense.

"She had to grow you in her body for 9 months, boy. If that's not sexy I don't now what is." Hook teased, tossing a bit of muffin at Henrys head as the boy laughed loudly at his comment.

"Killian!" Emma exclaimed, rushing over to the table and slapping the back of his head.

"Is that your name, Captain Jones? Killian?" Henry said with amazement, as if he just learned a secret he had wondered about for years.

"Yes, but only your mother is allowed to call me it without me losing my bloody mind." he replied, pulling Emmas hand away from the attack on his head until she fell into his lap.

"Get off me, pirate." she swatted at his hands playfully, quickly standing up and walking behind Henrys chair, telling him to finish his breakfast before he watched any more tv.

"Don't be mad, Captain." Henry said as he finished his breakfast, bringing his plate and glass into the kitchen and dropping them into the sink. "My mom doesn't like when anyone touches her, it's not just you." he finished casually, as if he didn't just embarrass the hell out of the blonde savior covering her face on the other side of the room.

"Is that right?" Hook said softly, looking at Emma as she busied herself by pushing Henrys chair in under the table and put the leftover treats in a ziplock bag.

"It's kind of true." she whispered as she past him, shrugging as if it held no greater meaning. But he knew it did.

He stood up from the table and wrapped his arm around her waist as she stood near the sink, letting the basin fill up with steaming water. He felt her flinch in surprise but she made no effort to move away as she looked over her shoulder to see Henry paying them no mind as he strode off to his room, no doubt to read one of his stories.

"I think I might know why that is, love." he said with a frown, pulling her tighter back against his chest.

"Hook, don't-" but he stopped her, his lips pressed against the base of her neck.

"I would never hurt you like he did, Swan." he promised, wrapping his other arm around her until her back was flush against his chest in a reassuring embrace.

And then she said something that surprised even him. Not because of her words or their meaning. But by how much sincerity was laced in every breath.

"I know you wouldn't. I trust you." she murmured, turning her head to the side to catch his lips before they couch kiss her neck again.

**Review please. 333 Gnight**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Let Your Words Heal My Insides

"Captain Hook is kissing my mother." Henry's voice called out from across the space as the small boy exited his bedroom.

Emma and Hook immediately parted, the savior running her hand over her lips as if to erase time itself.

"Henry, I-" but he kept on with his rambling.

"Why is Captain Hook kissing you?" He exclaimed with surprise, walking over to the two adults, standing between them. Hook raised his hands in surrender, backing away from the blonde.

"It's nothing, kid. I was just thanking him for breakfast." Emma replied, keeping her voice casual and steady, hoping to make him believe the kiss was a simple exchange of friends.

"Oh please. I'm a kid but I'm not 5. You told me you kissed him in Neverland too. Are you guys like a couple? Like my grandparents?" he asked, sitting at the kitchen table with his large book of stories. He silently waited for their response.

"I don't think anyone is a couple like the royals, lad." Hook chuckled, abandoning Emma and leaning over Henry's chair to look at the pages behind him.

"Is that my ship?" he asked, laying his hook on the page that was currently being read by the truest believer.

"Yea, this is your story." Henry explained, turning to the start of the chapter.

"Don't tell me how it ends. What's life without a bit of whimsy?" Hook said quickly, sitting across the table from the boy, never letting his eyes fall on his future.

"Mom's in your story too." he continued, turning a few pages.

"Henry, remember what Regina said about that book. You're not suppose to tell people their own stories. It'll change how their lives could play out." Emma scolded, sticking her hands into the hot water at the sink, scrubbing the dishes and distracting her mind.

"I wish I could've told you about dads story." Henry muttered, shutting the book and leaning on it lazily. "Maybe I could've stopped him from hurting you."

When those words reached her ears, Emma held her breath for a moment, rinsing her hands free of soap and walked over to her son quickly. Hook sat respectfully aside at the table, watching the family resolve their regrets.

"You shouldn't think that way." Emma assured him, crouching down so she was at eye level with him. She put her hand on his knee as she continued. "I know you don't know everything about your dad and I because we lost so much time together but unfortunately, your father was always this way." she explained, Hook narrowing his eyes with contained rage across the way.

"What do you mean? I thought you guys were happy." Henry asked, wanting to hear the history of his family after missing out on so much.

"We were, kid. For a few years. But the reason I gave you up wasn't because I didn't want you; I never want you to think that. It was because, at the time, I was homeless and a thief. Your dad and I met and once I was pregnant with you, things got complicated and he sold me out to the police and I spent my pregnancy in jail." she explained, tears brimming her eyes at the memories. "I wanted to keep you so bad, Henry. I swear I did. But how could I give you the life you deserve when I was living in my car, starving every day? I did what was best for you, and Regina was able to give you everything you needed when I couldn't. And you found your way back to me when you were ready. And when I had gotten my life together and was able to be a parent I thought you could be proud of." she explained honestly, knowing it was a lot for him to take in. She could already imagine the words the pirate behind her would have for her later.

"He knew you were pregnant and he let you go to jail?" Henry exclaimed, angry with his birth father.

"That is pretty devious, Swan. And I'm a bloody pirate." Hook commented, crossing his feet up on the chair beside him.

"Don't think of it like that, kid." she told Henry. "I deserved to be in jail, I was stealing. And that's wrong."

"You were stealing to survive." Hook mumbled, scratching a small notch in her worn out table casually with his blade.

"The point _is." _She shot Hook a scolding glare before looking back at Henry. "The point is that no matter what you could've told me in my story or your father, it still would've played out this way. Because I am a stubborn person who thought I could fix him." she admitted, pushing up to stand again, kissing the top of Henry's head.

"Now go get dressed. I told Regina I would take you over to spend the night at her place." Emma urged, shoving him playfully into his room.

Once they were alone, Hook reached across the table, sliding the book over in front of him.

"Hey, did you hear a word I just said to him?" Emma exclaimed, reaching over his chair, attempting to snatch the book away. He swatted her hands lightly in denial.

"Aye, but he is a child. I am a stubborn pirate. Not to mention curious." he smirked, flipping through the book until he came to a page illustrated with a dark forest scene, a simple, blonde woman standing in the center of the trees, her eyes looking into the distance.

"You can't read my story!" she shouted, moving around him to block his view.

"Ah, ah, ah, love." he teased, taking her wrists gently to stop her attempts, pulling her down into his lap. He snaked his hooked arm around her waist, holding her still as he turned the next page painted with the same woman, now accompainied by a man with the dark aura of Pans shadow.

"Is that suppose to be your true love?" he asked, pointing to the man beside the blonde woman on the page.

"That would be Neal, yes. Now Hook, I mean it. I can't read my own story. It would change everything." she said, squirming in his lap in a failed attempt to get free.

"Two things, darling." he said, kissing his neck chastely before turning the page again, much to Emma's dismay. "One, I am only looking at your past to see what has already happened, I would never ruin your future." he promised, studying the page that showed the blonde savior bloody on the ground of a alleyway, the shadow man standing above her. Anger raged in Hooks eyes. Emma struggled against him again, her hips bucking in his lap.

"And second." he continued, shutting the book and using his hand to grip her hip bone, stilling her hard against his front. "That is not helping me keep things age appropriate for your boy." he said through his teeth, trying to calm himself down from her arousing struggles.

"Then I guess it's a good thing you closed the book then." she whispered, nipping his ear playfully with her teeth, a masculine moan escaping his lips as his arm tightened around her waist. "Cause I could easily make you stop looking into my future." she smirked, grinding her hips once against him, laughing with victory as he through his head back in agony.

"It's not polite to tease a man like me, Swan." he said, his voice rough as he ran his hand up her side, under her shirt. His eyes never left hers. "I don't play nice." he finished, kissing her lips quickly before lifting her gently off his lap as Henry's door clicked. Emma walked casually over to meet her son as he came out of his room, backpack in hand.

"All ready, kid? Do you have your phone so I can call you tonight?" she checked, taking his bag from him and heading towards the door.

"Yes, Emma." he drawled, following in front of Hook as the three of them left the apartment and started the short walk to Regina's luxuries home

**Review Please**. **And heres a little spoiler for the next chapter. It's titled "Ill Break Down Your Door If I Have To" If work doesn't exhaust me tonight, I should have it up late this evening. Your reviews are like crack to me 3 **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: I'll Break Down Your Door If I Have To

"I suppose I should leave you to enjoy your night in peace." Hook said as he walked her to the front door of her apartment.

"You can come in for a drink if you want." she offered, lifting her keys from her pocket.

"As you wish." he smirked, expecting a slap from her at his antics. However, he noticed her body had become still as she pocketed her keys before using them, pushing the already unlocked door open cautiously. She turned to look at him over her shoulder with confusion before slowly entering her apartment, taking notice of the broken hinges of the front door.

"Wait here, Swan." Hook insisted, taking her wrist as she walked ahead of him and pulled her back to stand near the threshold. "I'm just going to look around first." he said in a hushed tone, as not to alert a possible intruder.

She nodded stubbornly as she looked around the open living room, papers scattered the floor, her glass coffee table flipped over and shattered in the center of the space. She saw into her kitchen that all the pictures and drawing that had once hung on her fridge had been ripped off and were now torn and left in pieces on the floor. Tears filled her eyes as she saw her home was destroyed, memories and possessions defiled and vandalized. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief that Henry was safe and unharmed at Regina's. She watched with her arms folded across her chest as Hook silently moved into Henry's bedroom, pushing the door open slowly before walking inside to clear it. She heard no sound of a struggle, relieved when she saw him come back out. He nodded that his room was clear before he walked over to her own bedroom, opening the door the same as he did with her sons.

Emma starts to relax after a few seconds of silence fill the room but when Hook doesn't come out as quick as before, worry seeps right back into her heart. Her suspicions are quickly confirmed as a loud thud echos from her bedroom into the living room right where she stood.

"We are going to talk about this, Emma." Neal hissed in Hooks ear as he was attacked from behind. He knew the man must've been hiding behind her door, waiting for Emma to walk in later that night. Hook breathed a sigh of relief as he struggled that he had been here with her.

"Sorry, mate. I'm not who you seem to be looking for." Hook smirked, jabbing his elbow back with full force, knocking his attacker away from him, crashing into the door and slamming it shut as he did so.

Emma ran into the kitchen, scrabbling for a knife in the drawer before rushing into her bedroom with her weapon ready. When she entered, she saw Neal's body bloody and unmoving crumbled against her closet doors. She looked around frantically for Hook, gasping when she saw him right beside her at the threshold, his arm cradled against his chest. His leather jacket sleeve had a bright red stain that was expanding by the second as she watched his body fall against her bedroom door and slide to the floor.

"Hook." she cried out, sliding on her knees down to his level on the ground. The knife she was holding clattered as she dropped it from her hands before pulling his jacket from his body. He winced as she did so, her face softening as fear crept in to her mind at the site of the blood running down his arm. She didn't need to ask what happened to know that Neal had stabbed him in the shoulder, the gaping hole near his neck all the proof she needed.

"Don't fall asleep, ok?" she urged, running her hand up to his cheek while the other pressed down hard on his wound, his blood covering her hands.

"It's ok, Swan. I'm a pirate. I don't fear death." he muttered, his hand touching her hand that covered his cheek as his eyes began to blink for long seconds at a time.

"Yea, well, I am not a pirate and I am afraid enough for the both of us." she exclaimed, moving both her hands to press on his shoulder, closing her eyes to keep the tears from falling. Emma did no cry and she certainly was not going to start now.

"I can't lose you. I'm still mad at you for leaving. You can't die when I'm still pissed at you, pirate." she said, her voice unsteady as she shook her head.

"Emma, what are you doing?" he mumbled, looking over at his shoulder with heavy eyes, her hands starting to glow a faint golden color.

"I-" she struggled for words as she watched magic drip from her fingertips. "I don't know." she admitted, the light becoming brighter as his wound began to close, the color returning to his skin.

She smile in relief as the hole disappeared from his neck, blood the only sign of the injury that was now completely healed.

"Bloody hell." he whispered, watching Emma as she removed her hands from his shoulder and examined them in front of her own eyes.

"What did I just do?" she muttered to herself, looking at her now completely normal, unglowing pair of hands.

"You saved my life, Swan." he grinned, reaching out for her, pulling her against his chest as they sat together on the floor of her destroyed bedroom.

"No." she shook her head, placing her hand on his chest and looking up at him as she sat between his legs. "You saved mine." she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his warm embrace.

**Please Review! Next chapter entitled "Is He Dead" **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey you guys. Didn't have time to proofread so i am sorry for any typing errors. My son just woke up from his nap so posting this real quick before dinner time. Thanks for all your reviews I read every single one 3 More please, I love to hear from you guys **

Chapter Eight: Is He Dead?

"What should we do with him?" Emma asked casually, standing beside Hook as they both looked down at the unconscious body of her ex true love.

"I could kill him." he suggested quickly, gauging her reaction.

"Yea, no. I may not like the guy but I still have a son and what kind of person would I be if I went around killing anyone who hurt me?" she replied with a shake of her head.

"Why, that would make you a pirate, love." he grinned, grabbing Neals arms and dragging him out of the bedroom and into the living room. She rolled her eyes at his comment before following him out, taking one last look at her destroyed bedroom.

"How about you go upstairs and tell your parents of the commotion that they no doubt heard from down here and I'll go take this bastard to the jailhouse." he suggested casually. Emma would have to be blind not to notice how attractive the man in front of her was as his muscles bulged in his forarms, his toned core visible even under his shirt as he effortlessly lifted Neal over his shoulder and turned towards the door.

"Like what you see, sweetheart?" he smirked, in turn looking her up and down slowly.

Emma knew her face was flushing with color causing her to quickly narrow her stare and shove him weakly out the door.

"Please." she said as if the idea was outrageous. "We both know you can't handle it." she smiled, mirroring her own words from the island months ago causing his face to turn from playful to stoic.

She watched his eyes turn into a glare as the icy blue of them stared right into her soul. She didn't mean to upset him.

"Hook, I'm sorry. I didn't mean -" but he didn't let her finish.

He took a step towards her and tilted her chin up, denying her attempt to avoid his gaze as he held onto it, locking his eyes with hers.

"I think what you meant to say, was that we both know I can more then handle it. " he said firmly, pulling her chin gently towards him, kissing her lips tenderly. "I can more then handle _you." _he reiterated, kissing her lips briefly once more before taking a step out the door, securing the dead weight on his shoulder.

He turned to look back at her for a moment, smiling to himself as she touched her fingers to her lips and let out a shaky breath, thoughts undoubtedly racing through her mind. "Go on then, Swan. Go talk to your father and I'll take care of this foul git." he assured her, slapping Neal's feet as they hung lifelessly over his chest.

She nodded, following him out the door. She turned to close it but it didn't click, a sigh of reality escaping her lips as she thought of the destruction inside her home.

_What had he been looking for? _

"Hey." Hook said, causing her attention to leave the broken door and focus solely on his words. "Don't worry about any of that now. Just be glad you and your boy are alright." he continued as if reading her mind.

"Thank you. I don't know what else to say; It doesn't seem like nearly enough." she said, shaking her head as she tried to find the words to voice her immense gratitude.

He nodded curtly with understanding, gesturing with a tilt of his head for her to go up to her parents place.

She turned towards the set of stairs, jogging up the first few before turning on the balls of her feet to watch Hooks retreating form. When she saw him push the exit door open she couldn't stop the words that tumbled out of her mouth, even if she wanted to.

"Hey, pirate."she called out, her face showing none of the many emotions that were racing around her insides. He turned his body at the waist to look back at her.

"You coming back?" she questioned.

And while she thought she knew what his response would be; a sarcastic retort or a flirty comment, it seemed she was wrong. But after she saw his face she knew what he would say now because it mirrored his expression the night they had returned from Neverland. She cocked her head to the side, her eyes filling with tears before he even replied, his body saying all that he hadn't spoken yet.

And then he shook his head, a sad half smile all that he could give her. "No, Swan. I don't believe I'll be coming back." he said vaguely.

"You mean today, right?" she said, knowing he didn't mean that at all.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his free hand through his hair, hiking Neal up on his other side.

"I mean ever." he clarified, his features softening as he watched her shoulder slump forward, her body falling weakly against the railing leading up to the next floor. "Goodbye Swan." he said, shooting her a look filled with all the things he would never say; the things she would never understand, before he walked out the door and out of her life for the second time.

She blinked back the tears in her eyes as she stared at the door he had just escaped out of.

"I can't believe I let myself do this again." she whispered, losing her motivation to take the stairs as she let herself fall to sit on the instead, her arm hanging onto the railing above her. She shook her head quickly as if to erase all the memories of him in her mind, tears fighting their way past her closed eyes to fall silently down her pale cheeks.

"I can't believe I let myself think for a _second _that he wouldn't leave again." she said to herself, running her hands over her face until her fingers were pulling through her hair.

"Who wouldn't leave?" a voice called out, startling her into a unsteady standing position.

"David." she said with a sigh, calming herself down as her heartbeat returned to normal. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hands before walking up to meet him at the second story landing.

"What's going on, Emma? Who left?" he asked, abandoning his previous retreat to the first floor as he took her in his arms and lead her through the door to the second story. They walked a few feet until they got to his home, David gently pushing her inside.

"Emma, what a nice surprise." her mother called from the kitchen. She dried her hands before rushing over to hug her daughter, not missing the tear stains on her cheeks.

"I was just on my way up to tell you guys not to worry about Neal anymore. He's in jail." she began her explanation, sitting beside Mary Margaret at the small kitchen table as David put a kettle of tea on the stove.

"Oh, sweetie. I know this must be so hard for you. You did love him once." her mother sympathized, reaching over to squeeze her hand.

"No, no." Emma said sternly, not wanting them to think for a moment that she wanted anything other then Neal to be put away. "I'm glad he's in jail. Now I don't have to worry about him hurting Henry."

"Or you." her mother said sternly, looking into her eyes with compassion.

"Then why were you so upset in the stairwell?" David asked, standing beside his wife while the tea began to boil. "You said something about people leaving."

"It's nothing. Hook was the one who took him to the station. He's not coming back." she explained, keeping her voice steady as she felt the walls build themselves even higher then before around her heart.

"Everything will work out, Emma. You're a powerful being of good and that will pull you through." her mother said wisely, patting the top of her daughters hand with assurance in her eyes. She believed every word she spoke even if she knew Emma didn't believe.

"I don't blame him for leaving. I wouldn't want any part of this life if I could help it." Emma muttered with a shrug, pushing herself up from the table and heading for the door.

She shot her parents a small smile, trying to convey that she was just fine. But it made the pain that much more obvious when she continued, her eyes empty of any golden light that was there when _he _had been near her.

"I'd leave me too. He doesn't deserve this life. He's a good man." she whispered, waving to her parents without another word before walking out the door and back down to her own apartment.

**Send me some thoughts 3**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey you guys. So sorry for the long delay in updating. My grandmother passed away a few days ago and Black Friday at work caused a lot of craziness. Thanks for your patience and I promise to have a longer chapter up very very soon 3 Enjoy this short lead into a much more dramatic upcoming chapter 3 **

Chapter Nine: You Burn With The Brightest Flame

"Mind telling me what my son is doing in a jail cell?" Gold asked as Hook slammed the steel door shut, turning around in surprise.

"It's not wise to sneak up on a pirate, mate." he replied, tucking the key into his jacket and leaning against the cell.

"And why is he knocked out?" Gold continued with his questions as he stepped up to look through the bars.

"I suppose since you abandoned your son you haven't had the pleasure of seeing what a bloody fool he has grown up to be. And a violent one at that." Hook explained casually, taking a dagger from his side and running his fingers over the tip, watching his own actions and paying the older man no mind.

"What are you going on about?" he asked again, snapping his fingers as he lost his patience, leaning on his cane.

"Your golden boy here has been less then kind to your towns little savior." he answered with a huff of boredom and disinterest.

"Stop speaking in riddles, boy! What has he done to be locked up and beaten from the looks of it?" Rumple exclaimed, seeing his sons bruised and bloody face between the bars.

"He's been hurting woman half his damn size, _dearie." _Hook snapped, angry at the mans tone when he was the one playing the pissed off card now. Emma was the one being hurt, not Baelfire. And the Dark One was working his last nerve.

"That's impossible. He would never-" but Hook wasn't going to listen to this any longer.

He held his hook up in front of his elder in protest, stepping up toe to toe with him. "Well he did. But I guarantee you he will never again. He wouldn't _dare." _Killian threatened, his jaw clenched tight with rage as he forced himself to speak through it. "And you'd be so wise as to pass that message along when he wakes." With those last words, he was gone, storming out of the jailhouse until he ended up at the Queens home. The sun was setting, giving him less then an hour of orange sunlight before blackness covered the town. Before he could stop himself or figure out why he was there, his hand was already knocking on the door before it was answered by a small boy half his height.

"Hello, lad. Just who I wanted to see." Hook introduced, clapping the boys shoulder before walking inside with him, amused by his obvious joy at seeing the pirate.

"Captain." Regina greeted when they walked into the living room where she was reading.

"Witch." he greeted back with a playful smile which she returned with a dry laugh.

"Is there a reason you are in my home with my son?" she asked, setting her book down and standing from her seat in front of the fire.

"Actually, I was hoping to have a word with him. Completely innocent, nonpirate talk, I assure you." he promised with a cocky bow.

"Of course." she said, leaving the room. How could she say no to the man who saved her sons life not so long ago.

"Thank you." he said sincerely, waiting until she was gone before addressing the boy.

"Is my mom okay? Emma." he asked, worry etched into his boyish face.

"Aye, she is alright. I wanted to talk to you about your father, however. He is in jail. It seems he was trying to find something in your home. Tore the place apart. Any idea what he may have been searching for?" he asked, knowing full well the boy knew what it was.

"The book." he whispered, running out of the room before quickly returning with a large book. The same book of stories from earlier. A window into the future.

"Well, I'll be damned." Hook muttered, watching as Henry hugged the bounded book tightly to his chest. "It is a good thing you weren't home then. Why does he want a childrens book anyways?"

Henry laughed dryly, plopping down on the couch in front of the fire. Hook sat on the arm of the sofa, looking over the boys shoulder as he opened the book.

"If I had to guess, I'd say he wants to know the ending to his story. It's not just a childrens book, Captain. It's everyones life written as a story but its true nonetheless." Henry explained, opening the book to the same page he saw earlier. A simple blonde woman standing in the center of a forest. Her face, however, looked different then it had before. Sadness was drawn across her pale face as tears poured from her eyes. Perhaps this was a different story, a different chapter then before.

"What happened?" Henry whispered, mostly to himself as he ran his small hand over the page. "This is Emmas story. Why did it change? What did you do?" he accused, worried at his mothers new path as he noticed sadness had replaced a smile in her depiction.

"I didn't do a damn thing to her." he replied with narrowed eyes.

"I've got to go see her." Henry muttered mostly to himself. He clutched the book tightly to his chest and ran out the door.

"Bloody hell." Hook hissed, following at his heels. "It's getting late, lad. You can't just go trolling the streets alone. Haven't you learned to be more careful what with being kidnapped by Peter Pan and all."

"I don't care. My moms story has been rewritten which means something happened. Every ending is supposse to be happy ever after for good hearts. Like Emma." he explained as they walked quickly towards the boys home. "And the villains of the story are the ones with unhappy faces. I have to help her fix whatever it is that gave her a villains ending."

"It's just a book, kid." he said, trying to calm the boy down.

Henry huffed as he took the stairs to his apartment building two at a time. "You don't get it. If she doesn't get the right ending in the story, she doesn't get the right ending in real life. And if anyone deserves a happily ever after, it's Emma."

"Whatever you say." Hook groaned, following the younger boy inside. A frown formed across his face when he saw Henry stop in the threshold, the boys gaze locked on his bothers back. Hook followed his stare to find Emma crouched down on the floor with a dustpan and broom, sweeping up piles of broken glass around her. Blood ran down from her hand to her elbow, small drops falling to the hardwood floor. She didn't notice them enter as she continued to sweep up the shards, taking no caution as pieces dug into her skin as she swept.

"Mom?" Henry asked slowly, taking careful steps inside while Hook stayed in the doorway. He shouldn't have come back. He wasn't the one to fix the broken hearts and be a shoulder to cry on. He was usually the cause, not the solution. Seeing her like this, even without seeing her face, he knew he had to get out of town. He had to get away from her. He would only hurt her in the end. Anything he ever loved had been taken from him or used against him and destroyed before his eyes. He wouldn't watch that happen to the frail woman in front of him. And he certainly wouldn't let it happen to her son.

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW 3 i love hearing from you guys **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: What Are You Still Doing Here?

"Mom?" Henry called again as he put his hand lightly on Emmas shoulder.

"Henry." she smiled with surprise, whipping her face of the fallen tears and pulling him into a hug as she stood from her spot on the ground.

"Your hand." he said, his voice shaking at the site of his mother so unlike herself.

"Oh, damn. I didn't even feel it." she said, walking with him over to the kitchen, leading him away from the broken glass to sit at the table. Hook stood unnoticed in the doorway, watching her every move. He watched her kiss her sons head before hopping over piles of swept up glass to get to the bathroom. He locked eyes with Henry, both wearing looks of confusion at her personality shift, as they heard the water run in the other room.

"There, it wasn't deep just needed to rinse it clean." she explained as she came back into the room.

"Hook." she stopped in her tracks when she saw him leaning against the entrance doorframe. "I thought you weren't coming back." she muttered, looking away from him as she masked her face of emotions, starting her steps again to stand behind Henry at the table.

"You were leaving?" Henry exclaimed, pushing back his chair and walking over to the taller man. He looked up at him with anger in his bright eyes before smacking him childishly against the chest. Hook mocked pain as he crossed his arms over his chest and took a step away from him, retreating further into the living room. Henry followed his steps.

"No wonder her story changed." Henry mumbled, speeding in front of the pirate so he couldn't walk any further.

"Henry, enough." Emma interrupted, moving back into the living room a few paces from where they stood. She leaned over to continue her cleaning, taking the larger shards of glass from the broken coffee table into her palm and tossing them into the garbage can that she placed in the center of the room.

"Bloody hell, Swan. Don't grab broken glass with your bare hands. Use your head." he shouted, rolling his eyes as he watched her. His face immediately softened as he witnessed her silent reaction to his sharp words. He saw her stop mid step before she could bend over to pick up more reminisce of her broken home and watched as her eyes darted to her own feet, blocking herself off from his stare. He watched as she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth to sink her teeth into it as she nodded in agreement with him.

_What the hell is happening? She's not even putting up a fight. She never would let me talk to her so callously. _Hook didn't know what to think as he looked over at Henry, tears framing the young boys eyes. If it's one thing Hook couldn't stand it was the site of a child crying. It ate through any wall he ever built around his heart.

"Snap out of it, lass." Hook urged, walking over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You can't let your boy see you like this." he whispered for only her to hear.

Hook was surprised when her head snapped up, her eyes locking with his as she shoved him away. "Please." she spoke carefully and almost silently. "Don't touch me anymore." she begged, shaking her head as she took plenty of steps away from him, watching the hurt of her words sink into his features.

"Emma." he whispered, sadness in his voice. "Come on, love. I did nothing to you that should make you so crass."

"This is the last I am going to say to you so try to keep up." she narrowed, her eyes burning into his as she kept her distance from him. "Don't _ever _put your hands on me again. And don't call me any of your little pet names anymore."

Even as her words hit his heart in all the wrong places, he took comfort in the fact that every harsh word she spoke was making her seem more like herself and less like the sad maiden in the storybook.

"And you're right, Hook." she continued, her voice like a knife into his very being even as his eyes hid his reaction to her. "You didn't do anything wrong. I did. I'm the one who let myself think you wouldn't leave again. That you might actually stick around. That's my fault, not yours. I'm not mad at you. I just don't want to see your face again." she explained, keeping her voice as even as she could even as a single tear escaped her green eyes to fall down her pale cheek. She brushed her hand lovingly over her sons hair before turning on her heels and retreating into her room.

"Well, it seems I should be off." Hook said after a heavy silence pasted between him and the younger man.

"You know, I've read your story, Captain. And while that lets me feel a lot of sympathy for you, it doesn't change how angry I feel towards you right now." Henry whispered, crashing down onto the couch, looking around at the tornado that appeared to have torn through his home. Hook watched with shielded eyes, pity for the boy as he saw him taking in his shattered abode.

"I'm sorry if I've angered you, lad. It was not my intention." Hook said sincerely, turning and walking back towards the door.

"Yes it was." Henry said with a sigh, crossing his legs underneath him on the sofa, setting his large book beside him. "Your story gave you a happy ending but you don't think you deserve one so you are doing everything you can to turn the good in your life into a villains ending. And I know I am not suppose to be telling you this." he continued with a defeated sigh. "But you are a big part of Emmas story. So while you destroy your own path for fear you haven't earned it, you are also burning up her chapters completely." he said, opening up the book to the center again and tilting it up for Hook to see.

Killian narrowed his eyes in confusion as he crossed the room to where Henry sat. He looked down at the pages that were now charred and turning to ash before their eyes. The page looked to be showing the simple blonde illustration in the arms of a faceless man but it was hard to see any of the details as the page darkened around the edges before burning completely into the center leaving ashes in its place.

"What the hell is this book, kid?" he finally asked, accepting that it was clearly much more then a simple childish bedtime story.

"I'm the truest believer, Captain." he explained calmly, closing the book as not to show any more glimpses into the future. "I've been the keeper of this book since I turned ten last year and I am suposse to guard it until every story has been told. And I am suppose to make sure the right people get the right endings. And right now, I'm not doing a great job of it." he said sadly, looking over at his mothers closed bedroom door.

"I shouldn't have showed you that. It's not your fault and you shouldn't feel bad about leaving. We'll be fine without you in our story." he said, his voice less convincing then anything Hook had ever heard. "I should help Emma clean up whatever it is that happened here." he said with a half smile, pushing up from his spot on the couch and walking into the kitchen to pick up the array of scattered papers that littered the floor.

"I didn't think I would affect her path at all, lad." Hook admitted, a distraught groan escaping his lips. He crossed the room into the kitchen, picking up a fallen chair and placing it upright at the table. "I didn't think I was even in her story."

And then Henry laughed, surprising Hook with the genuine sound of it. "How could you not be in her story?" he asked, laughing at the insanity of what he had heard. "You're stories might as well be the same. Sure, they didn't start the same but when the chapters start in Neverland, it all becomes one story and yours separate ones don't even go on. It's a whole new story and it plays out intertwined. I thought you'd figure that out on your own what with your own emotions and human stuff like that." Henry mocked, still smiling at the absurdness.

"What if I don't want her in my story?" Hook asked, looking to the eleven year old for wisdom, both clueless to the listening blonde a few feet away with her bedroom door now completely ajar.

Emma's shoulders fell at his words, her eyes closing as she kicked herself for her blind faith in Neverland and every day that followed.

"Why wouldn't you?" Henry asked, his eyes no longer amused as he set the papers neatly on the counter. "Emma's great."

She smiled at her sons kind words.

"Because everyone in my life is ripped from me and then destroyed. Why would I want her in it? I want her to have everything. And my story." he stopped himself for a moment. "No, my _life." _he corrected. "It isn't good enough for her to be apart of. She would be ripped from me." he reiterated.

"That's why after Neverland, your chapters stopped, and so did hers." Henry explained, frustrated that he had to keep everything that he knew, most of all the endings, to himself for the rest of his life. "Because after Neverland, neither of your lives were able to keep on track with your old story lines. So the book changed you from a villain and made a new story with Emma. The book gave you a heroes ending because after Neverland, you met my mom. And it changed your plot. She stopped you from becoming a villain and set you on a path to a better ending." he rushed the words out as quick as he could, wanting the older man to understand.

"And I said I was leaving her." Hook whispered to himself, leaning over the small kitchen chair in defeat.

"You sure did." Emma said, making herself known as she walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter beside the sink.

**Review please 3**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Change Comes Faster Then You Can Imagine and Prepare For.

"Which makes me that much more surprised that you are still here." she continued, bending down to gather her small box of recipe cards that scattered the kitchen floor.

Hook couldn't help but watch as she bent over, taking in all of her curves and long legs with her back to him.

"If it was to stare at me, I'd prefer you didn't." she said, feeling his eyes on her. Henry snickered across the room, picking up papers.

"I got this kid. Why don't you spend the night with your grandparents tonight so I can clean this place up. I don't want you to have to deal with this mess, I'll take care of it." Emma said with a smile. "They haven't spent much time with you lately and I'm sure they'd love it. Go pack an overnight bag, ok?" she urged, not wanting her son to have to witness the recovery of their broken home.

"I still have mine from Reginas." Henry said, heading to the front door and picking up his backpack, stuffing his book inside carefully. "I love you mom. Come up and get me tomorrow and we can have pancakes." he said excitedly, his age showing for the first time in a while. She smiled in response.

"Sounds good. Don't talk to any strangers, okay?" she parented as he opened the door to leave.

"I can walk him up there, lass." Hook offered, watching as Emma looked to Henry for approval.

"I'd like that." he grinned, taking the pirates hand and rushing out the door.

"I love you!" Emma called as the door slammed.

"I love you too." she heard him call back loudly, causing her heart to flutter in her chest. Maybe she could be the parent he deserved.

"So, are you going to drop me off upstairs and head back to your ship to set sail?" Henry asked as they walked up the steps to the second story.

Hook pushed the door opened, leading to the landing of several doors in a narrow hallway. Henry led the way down the path, stopping at a blue door on the left that he knew was his grandparents home. Hook tapped his hook against the door three quick times before looking down at the boy.

"I'm going to help your mother clean up her flat first. Someone has to stop the woman from picking up glass as if it's flowers in a garden." Hook smirked, the door opening before Henry could respond.

"Henry." Snow white smiled, gesturing for them to come inside her brightly lit home. "And Captain." she greeted, bowing her head slightly with respect.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, your grace." he said politely, bowing just barely in thanks.

"The pleasure is ours." she beamed, hugging her grandson to her chest as she kept her eyes on Hooks.

"How is our daughter?" David asked, coming into the room from what must've been their shared bedroom.

"Emma is doing just fine." he answered simply, not wanting to get into the details until everything was taken care of. "Henry here has just been asking about you guys and why he doesn't see more of you." he embellished, earning a discreet sneer from the boy.

The queen smiled widely at this with excitement. "Splendid! Come come." she urged, pulling Henry into the kitchen. "I just finished making dinner. Grab a dish and make yourself a full plate." she motioned towards the cupboard for the boy to make himself at home.

"You are more then welcome to join us, Captain." she said sincerely, her kindness a rare form of beauty in Hooks eyes.

"You're too kind. Unfortunately I walked the lad up here to make sure he arrived safely. I'm afraid now I must be going." he said, walking into the kitchen, pulling out a chair for Henry. Snow stood back, watching as her grandson smiled up at the pirate before sitting down. And their small exchange next shocked her, and more so her husband, more then they expected as they watched in silence.

"You should thank the gods everyday for the family you have around you, lad." Hook said, putting both his hands on the young boys shoulders as he leaned over to the side of his head to speak. "You are luckier then you realize. You are a gift to them but they are also one to you. So few are as lucky as you." he finished, patting his shoulders firmly before whispering a few words in his ear, Snow and her husband hearing nonetheless, reacting with more surprise.

"You're a good kid." he whispered. "And I trust you to look out for your mother should I ever not be in a position to do so."

Snow looked over at her husband, worry on her face at his words of farwell.

Henry's head snapped to the side, locking eyes with the pirate. "Don't you dare leave her." he said firmly. "Don't you dare leave _us." _He stressed, each word clear as he could make them.

Hook responded with silence as he walked back to the door. "Thank you again for your invitation. Have a good night." he said before walking out of their home and back down the apartment stairwell. He stopped in front of Emmas door, taking a deep breath with his palm against the wood.

_She will be ripped from me. _

"Well, are you coming in or what?" a voice called, muffled from inside.

"Bloody hell." he whispered, pushing the door opened to see Emma sweeping all of the glass into one large pile in the corner of the living room. "How did you even know I was there, lass?"

"I always know when you're around, stupid pirate." she snapped in a hushed tone, leaning the broom against the wall and crouching down with the dustpan in her grasp.

"Let me, Swan." Hook insisted, crossing the room quickly and taking the instrument from her hands. She stayed crouched down, leaning her back against the wall as she watched him collect the sharp shards in the pan.

"You don't have to do that." she said, running her fingers through her hair before rubbing her palms over her face with a exhausted sigh.

"I know that. But last time you sliced your hand opened and we wouldn't want blood to stain your floors now would we." he poked, smirking in her direction as he dumped the last bit into the trashcan still placed in the center of the room.

"Like you give a damn." she muttered, rolling her eyes before pushing her butt against the wall and lifting herself to stand straight beside him. He knocked the pan against the inside of the trashcan before walking over to her, heat radiating from his body.

"If that's what you think then so be it." he said, brushing past her and moving into the kitchen, stacking the bottles of spices back on the counter one by one, picking them up from different places on the tiled floors. And then she asked a question that surprised him for the first time in many years. Catching a pirate off guard was no easy task, but she seemed to do it simply, speaking only a few words in a hushed voice.

"Why is it so _easy _for you to come and go as you please?" she asked, willing herself to walk into the kitchen as take his wrist, spinning him around roughly to look at her. Tears brimmed her bright eyes and it softened every hard muscle in his features. His eyes dropped to her lips as she spoke.

"How is it so easy for you to leave?" she whispered, tears escaping her eyes before she could blink them back, making a trail down her cheeks.

He shook his head immediately in response, rejecting her tears and sadness as if they overpowered him.

"It's anything but easy, Emma." he said, catching himself before he called her one of the names she forbade him to use.

"Do you know what it does to me, Hook?" she asked, her walls crumbling around her heart as she felt herself unable to find the strength to keep them up. "Do you know how much it hurts me?" she pleaded with him, her shoulders shaking as she stood in front of her, crying silently with bare sadness across her lips.

"Shh." he whispered, holding her face in his hands, the curve of his hook stroking the top of her cheekbone. She leaned into the warm touch of his hand on her other side. "Please, don't cry. I can't see it, Swan." he begged, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers, her body stiffening in his grasp. Her lips stood still against his.

"The more times you kiss me, the harder it is for me to let you go. So please, just stop." she begged, more tears falling from her face as she turned away from him, walking off into her room as she whipped them away.

And what else could he do but follow? He would always follow her path.

**Review please. It motivates me to post post post more more more 33**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Could You? Would You?

"Not so long ago, on our lovely trip up the beanstalk, you would have given anything to part ways. You couldn't have ran from me faster after you left me there if you recall." he said, standing in the doorway as she fell onto her bed, her back laying flat against the sheets. She ran her hands over her face before sighing in frustration.

"It's not the same!" she finally exclaimed, finding it hard to put her thoughts into words at this moment. With him right in front of her.

"How is it any different? It was not so long ago, lass." he countered, taking a step into her room and closing her dresser drawers that had been thrown open at all angles.

"Because that's not us anymore." she continued with anger in her words, sitting up in bed now and leaning her back against the headboard, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"At least, that's not me anymore. I couldn't do what I did then." she said, her voice losing its edge and volume.

"I'm sure you could. You did what you had to to save your family. And I'm sure, if the time came, you could trap me to save them again. And there's no shame in that, Swan." he said casually, pushing the last of the drawers in before crouching down beside it to pick up her broken jewelry box.

"I think it's very clear to me now that you and I do not have the same feelings towards one another." she said with a sad shrug, pushing her hair back quickly.

"Please, go on. Since you're so bloody insightful." he mocked, setting the cracked porcelain box on her dresser before getting to his feet, sitting on the very edge of the bed while he ran his hook along his fingertips.

"I didn't grow up with a family, pirate." she snapped, annoyed at his tone towards her. "But the ones I traveled with to Neverland are people I care for greatly. People I would risk my life for. And I can _promise_ that if the time came again, I wouldn't be able to leave you up there in those cuffs." she said, pointing towards the sky.

"To save the people you say you love, I think in the moment, you could." he disagreed, finding it hard to believe she had changed her feelings towards him in such a short span of time.

"I'm a fool." she said to herself, sliding down from the headboard and laying down on her sheets with tears in her eyes.

He waited with silence for her to continue.

"I thought after Neverland, if we managed to find some shred of a chance of escaping, I would have something to come back to. And now the only thing I wanted to return with is so ready to get as far away from me as possible. And who the hell can blame you? I am not stopping you so I have no clue why you are even still in my home." she said staring up at the ceiling as she spoke of him as if he wasn't listening.

"You wanted Neal in Neverland, love." he said, watching as the pet name caused her to flinch the moment it hit her ears. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she heard him say it before she shut her lids tightly.

"Don't call me that." she said, clenching a fist to her side before bringing it over her heart. "Just go." she whispered, her body tense in a way that looked like she was in physical pain from the mere site of him.

"I told your boy I would help you straighten the place up. And I am a man of my word." he said calmly, not wanting to rile her up anymore then he already had.

"So, what?" she said, narrowing her eyes the way he always found so attractive on her. Her smirk, her tone, the fierce passion-even anger, in her eyes. Nothing had ever drove him towards a woman like the details of her face. The simple beauty of her expressions. And as she bit her bottom lip with nerves, he felt himself about to lose it, forcing himself to bolt up from the bed and step back towards the living room.

"You are going to be a kind gentleman and help a poor damsel clean her apartment and then head out to the open sea?" she continued, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and looking over at him as he stopped in the threshold.

"You know, lass. Most woman would be more appreciative of a man helping her after she let herself get abused by a weak little man." Hook said, anger forcing its way into his voice as he felt himself becoming torn at the thought of leaving her. If he didn't push her away now, make her hate him, he'd never be able to leave her and give her a better life without him.

His callous words got the reaction he wanted from her but affected him much deeper then he had prepared himself to handle. He watched as her shoulders froze and her legs pulled off the floor to lay against her bed again. She pushed herself back against the headboard, bowing her head and creating a curtain around her face with her golden hair, blocking him out of her field of vision. Hook almost regained his composure enough to take the step and walk out but then her shoulders wrenched and he heard the smallest gasp of breath escape urgently from her lips.

_All I do is bring destruction in my wake. And even when I found redemption in Milah, she was torn apart because I didn't deserve her. And now I have found her, and she is sitting right in front of me, and the pull I feel towards her- it's so much stronger then Milah. I can only assume the destruction I bring her will be that much worse then my last love had to endure. Because Emma Swan is that much more pure of heart. I have to leave her even if it kills me. If I don't, she will suffer at the hands of my enemies and my past._

"So this is your plan now? Make me hate you?" she whispered, folding her legs up before sliding them under the dark blue top sheet and scooting down to lay her head against the pile of pillows she kept aligning the top of her bed. Emma turned her body to face the wall instead of the door, not wanting him to feel the glory of seeing how much his words affected her. She barely noticed when he turned out the light, covering the room with darkness. The only light came through the small window she was facing as the sun sunk low in the sky, night only a few minutes away. It cast a low, dim shine of orange across one side of her room, inches losing its light ever breath as the sun fell for the day. She kept her eyes locked on the site of it falling down past a small group of trees, ignoring the muffled footsteps that grew louder in the back of her mind. She felt more tears fall from her eyes as her cheeks were hit with a soft breeze from the open window, the stain of water that trailed down them reacting colder to the wind.

"If making you hate me is what it takes for you to let me go, Swan, then I'll gladly do it." he said, his voice tight as he forced emotions he didn't feel into his words.

"You don't need my permission to skip town, pirate. You're a grown man and you can do as you please." she said simply, tucking her hands under her head as she kept her eyes staring out into the trees.

He walked over, crouching down down beside the bed, his hands gripping the mattress beside her curved body as she stared past him, over his shoulder.

"Maybe a bit of time in jail is all Baelfire needs to get his head together. You can't predict the future, Swan and maybe me leaving is all that needs to be done to give you the happily ever after young Henry is always going on about." he said, surprised when she reacted to him. He figured she would continue to ignore him, looking through his body as if he exist mere inches from her face. He knew he must've gone too far when her eyes darkened to a shade of green he had never seen against her porcelain skin, her stare locked on his bright blue orbs.

She lifted her upper body to rest against her elbow, still on her side under the thin sheet as she leveled her stare with his, their faces inches apart in the dark room as she leaned over. She searched his eyes for any indication that he meant what he said, but all she found was pasted on annoyance as he stared back at her.

"So, what you're suggesting is that I let the man who destroyed my home-" she cut herself off, shaking her head as if her last words were absurd. "No, no no." she rushed out, correcting herself. "destroyed my _life, _have a time out in prison." she said, her tone more smug then he expected. "And after he learns his lesson, accept his apology for biting my neck till I bled enough to soak a bath towel. Sorry Emma," she began, her voice a lower register in a weak impersonation of Neal. "I had some time to think about everything while I was locked up and I'm sorry for holding you down with a knife to your throat every time I _fucked _you." she enunciated, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth to stop herself from raising her voice or arguing another moment with the pirate in front of her.

"He _what_?" Hook stressed, moving his face a tad closer to hers and tapping his ear, believing he must have heard her words incorrectly.

"Just go, Hook. You've said all you needed to say." she sighed, rolling over to her back as she fell flat against the mattress with defeat, her blonde hair cascading in waves over her pillows as she stared at the ceiling, unable to look at him after his words of misplaced support for her happy ending.

"Never took you as a woman who liked the rough stuff in bed, princess." he muttered, unable to stop himself before the words tumbled from his mouth loud enough for her to hear. He knew he was being selfish, but making her hate him was the only thing that would let him give her up. He was pulled towards her light, her spirit, too much to set sail as if she never existed.

"Glad you found that story amusing." she snapped, pulling the covers off her body and letting the sheet fall to the floor. She stood up quickly from bed, walking over to her closet as she felt the familiar sensation of her brain beginning to shut off her emotions before her heart could break anymore. She wordlessly pulled her jeans over her hips and down her legs, looking around the room for her hamper. It has been kicked across the room by the intruder, her clothes strewed over most of the floor. She stood the hamper upright, setting it in the corner of her closet before dropping her jeans into it.

Hook's forced anger seeped from his body as he watched the simple, sad savior discard her clothes, officially paying him no mind at all. He saw that she mirrored her illustration from Henry's book in this moment, her face plain and pure as he saw her lifeless movements, wordlessly reacting to her every step as she stared right past him. She pulled the tank top over her head while she walked to her bedroom door, ready to shut it until she saw it no longer stood aligned with the hinges. She let out a shaky breath that barely reached the pirates ears before brushing past him to stand in front of the window. The sun kissed her shoulder before disappearing completely from the sky, covering her room in darkness. She leaned against the frame, reaching up to close it, locking it from any more unwanted intruders.

There was no more anger in Hook to push her further out of his heart as he stared her up and down. He would be a fool not to notice the beauty of her body mixed with her petite frame and beautiful eyes. She stood with her back to him leaning against the window as he took in her curves that stood out flawlessly against the dark slate black color of her bra and matching lace hipster panties.

"Is that what you want for me, Hook?" she whispered, finally acknowledging him as she returned to her bed, burying herself beneath the sheets as her eyes began to close. "Would it make you happy to know that while you're setting sail across the seas, I'll be in loving, passionate hands?" she asked, turning onto her side to face him. She contained her voice of protests as he crossed the room to stand behind her before she felt a dip in the mattress. Her eyes were no longer heavy as she blinked herself awake, surprised to feel the heat behind her coming off his flesh. He laid down on top of the sheet casually, his hands under his head as he stayed on his back. His silent response encouraged her to continue, testing his limits.

"You shouldn't have even taken him to jail if you believe he's the one for me. Maybe you think he should be with me right now. Since I like it so rough in bed as you put it." she sneered, turning over to face him even as he looked up towards the ceiling, feeling her burning stare nonetheless.

"Aye, perhaps you're right, Swan. Want I should go fetch the clever lad? Let him know you like when he treats you like rotten garbage. I mean, you must. You stayed with him for years letting him use you however he wished." he said in returning, glancing to the side briefly, smirking in her direction.

"It seems I don't need him anymore what with you in my bed treating me like garbage, his position has been filled for the night." she whispered, surprising him with her swift movements as she lifted one leg to entwine with his, her hand sliding up his chest before digging her nails into the skin their for hardly a second. He snapped his head down to look at her as her actions caught him completely off guard before her lips slammed against his harder then he would expect from her. She kissed him with a desperation that she didn't know she had in her for barely a second, taking his bottom lip into her mouth a nipping it between her teeth, her jaw tightening as she ran her hand from his chest up his neck until it rested on his cheek.

Hook was brought back to reality when he felt a wetness hit his face, fresh tears falling from her eyes against his cheeks.

'Emma." he began, sadness in his eyes as all the regret hit him at once. But she didn't let him take it back. He couldn't.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." she whispered, her voice breaking as she shoved her palms against his chest until he was forced away from her. She looked into his eyes with a deep, overwhelming sadness before turning over to her other side, letting him stare with remorse at her bare back in the moonlight.

**The more reviews, the faster I post. Love you guys 3**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Give Me A Shot At The Night

"Shouldn't you be heading back to the docks?" she said after almost an hour of silence in her darkened bedroom, the two laying side by side. Emma still faced away from him, putting as much distance between them as possible.

"And here I was believing you to be asleep, lass." he said, turning his head in her direction only to be met with the same view of the pale skin of her back, his eyes locking on the small dip of the arch above her bottom.

"How can I sleep with you behind me?" she huffed, kicking the sheets to the floor, willing her body to get out of bed, finding no energy to do so.

"You slept with Baelfire, I would think no differently of my presence, Swan." he commented, his voice strained. She knew he was being cruel in a selfish act of pushing her out of his life, but that didn't help the words effect her any less as they fell from his lips.

"No, that's where you're wrong, pirate." she sneered, disgust in her voice. "You're so much worse then him."

Hooks body stiffened, all his muscles ridged at her words. "I beg your pardon?" he snipped, reaching across the bed and pulling her wrist roughly until she was forced to turn over and face him.

"You heard me." she said with defeat, yanking her wrist from his grasp while scooting as far away from him as possible.

"How am I worse then that git?" he questioned, daring her to say how the could possibly be true. "I've never done anything that he has, lass. I've never laid a hand on your or your boy and I have certainly never bitten, cut, or forced you in any way. So, go on then." he willed, waving his hands casually towards her. "Tell me how I am so much worse then him."

"I didn't love him." she whispered mostly to herself, the words reaching his ears nonetheless.

"You don't love me, Emma." he said sadly, unable to stop himself from reaching out towards her, brushing his fingers across her cheek. Her eyes closed at his touch as she noted that his moments of kindness were few and far between in his efforts to make her despise him.

"I'm not too fond of you right _now_, that's for damn sure." she said with a narrowed stare, sighing with frustration when his hand dropped from her face. "But that's because you are being an asshole so you can leave with me hating you. Sorry to disappoint, but that's not happening. You'll have to deal with leaving and know I'll fucking _miss_ you." she stressed with her jaw tight, bolting up from the bed before she slapped him across the face. He stood as well, standing still at the side as he watched her walk towards the door and into the living room.

"Bloody hell." he whispered, taking a breath before following her out into the open space covered with destruction.

Emma quickly busied herself with cleaning, picking up the three cushions that had been ripped away from the couch and setting them back into place.

"I don't deserve you, lass. It's as simple as that." he said, picking up the small table lamp that had been beneath the cushions and setting it back in its place.

"And apparently I don't deserve to be happy. Looks like it'll be a great life for both of us." she said with a smug look across her face, grabbing a small, shining object from under the couch. His eyes had a mind of their own as Hook watched her bent down on the floor, his gaze following up her slender legs to her risen bottom in the air as she stretched her arm to reach beneath the sofa.

"What is that?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him when he saw the sadness deepen in her eyes as she gazed upon the small silver trinket in her hand.

Instead of standing back up and continuing to clean up the mess that was her home, she stayed on the ground, leaning her back against the bottom of the sofa and wrapping her fist tightly around the object.

"It's nothing." she whispered, tears stinging her eyes as she tucked it into her pocket.

"Doesn't seem to be nothing." he countered, standing tall beside her and gazing down as she avoided his confrontation.

"Then let me rephrase." she said, blinking the tears back and standing up immediately, almost knocking him down in the process. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with , pirate." she reiterated.

"Such a shame, seeing as I am too bloody curious to be satisfied with such an answer." he smirked, reaching around her to slide his hand into her pocket, wrapping his other arm around her waist and settling his hook on her hip to hold her still.

"No, stop!" she yelled, the desperate begging a side he had never seen on her until now. "Please, Hook don't." she pleaded, tears falling freely down her cheeks now as she reached up frantically to grab at his tightly closed fist. She knew he was much taller then her, making her efforts useless but logic held no meaning in this moment as she desperately tried to retrieve what he had taken.

"I'll give it right back, Swan. Pirates honor." he assured her, shoving her gently down to sit on the sofa while he stood beside it, opening his hand once he made sure her breath had steadied and she believed he wouldn't harm whatever it was that he had in his grasp.

"Am I missing something?" he asked, examining the long golden chain dangling from his hand.

"Just throw it away, Hook. The site of it makes me sick." she said with a look of disdain.

"As you wish." he said, bowing slightly before tossing it into the trash in the center of the room.

"Don't say that anymore." she whispered weakly. Hook noticed that the discovery of the chain seemed to steal away her will. He was beyond curious to find out what horrible memories it triggered for her.

"I'll let you spend the rest of the night in peace, lass. Good night." he said, picking up a small stack of papers from the ground and setting them on the coffee table before heading to the door.

"Just a heads up." she started, setting down the broom she had in her hand as she walked over to him. He stared down at her with a coldness in his blue eyes she had seen the first time they met. "Don't think that this time you can leave and come back 6 months later like nothing happened. I wont make that mistake again. I wont let myself get close to you." she warned, reaching behind him and pushing the door wide open.

"I only came back because your boy came to me in the middle of the night for help because _you _were getting your ass handed to you, darling." he sneered, stepping as close as he could to her as she glared up at him.

"Well, my apologies for his mistake." she started, keeping her voice as steady as she could. "He should've known better then to inconvenience you like that. We wont be needing your help anymore. You've done _more _then enough." she whispered, tears in her eyes as every sharp word he spoke hit her straight through the heart.

"A simple thank you would suffice. If it wasn't for me, Swan, you would still be getting slapped around like some kind of _whore_ by that bastard of a man." he spat, anger in his eyes as he took the last few moments to say whatever he needed to for her to say she hated him. To make it possible for him to walk away and give her the happily ever after she deserved.

Emma's mouth opened just barely, although her voice was lost. A small sound escaped her lips but no words came out. The insult affected her more then she would ever admit and the tone in his voice actually caused her to stumble back away from him until the back of her knees hit the couch. She dropped down onto the cushions, her eyes never leaving his as she slowly closed her mouth.

"I-" she started, her eyes stuck on his. Words continued to be lost in her mind as she rolled her eyes in frustration before throwing her hands in the air, leading hard against the back of the couch. "You're not wrong so I don't know what to say!" she finally yelled, the volume in her voice startling him as he stepped back, reaching behind him for the door.

"I am so use to fighting and defending myself and now I have nothing to say because everything you are throwing at me is fucking true." she exclaimed, leaning forward with her elbows propped up on her knees, her hands running over her face as the feeling of helplessness set in to her heart.

"Swan, don't- "But she didn't let him get the words out. Everything he said was true and it was too late for him to act like he was sorry. She knew he wasn't. He was being selfish, doing anything he could to hurt her so he could leave guilt free.

"No, Hook. It's fine. You're right. I was his whore. In fact, I always will be. That night Henry found you and I saw you for the first time since Neverland, Neal had fucked me so many different ways I lost track. Mere _minutes _before you looked at me for the first time." Emma stood up slowly, walking past him as he followed her movements, opening the door and swinging her arm through it.

"You're dismissed, Hook. I wont miss you, don't worry. You can leave with no regrets. This was a mistake and it was all my own so just go." She begged, looking up at him, holding in a breath as she waited for him to step out of her life.

"You know I only said all of that so you would let me go. The less upset you are at me leaving the better." he explained, reaching out to touch her face. She stepped back as his fingers skimmed her cheek as if his touch burned her flesh like acid.

"You told me in Neverland, in the caves, that I made you feel again. Made you remember what love felt like for the first time since you lost Milah." she whispered, backing away from him against the now closed door as he closed in on her, his body forcing her back against the panel to keep from touching him. "Would you have fought that hard for her in Neverland and then left _her? _Or is it just me?" Emma asked, desperate for any answers she could get before he walked out of her life forever.

"No, I wouldn't have left her." he said softly, pressing his knee against the wall between her legs, his hand right above her head as he let his face hover inches away from hers as she looked up at him with glassy eyes.

She nodded slowly, expecting nothing less then the exact answer he gave to her.

"I did not love her half as much as you, Swan. I would've been selfish with her and stayed. And that is why she was killed in front of my eyes. Because I was selfish. I will not let the same happen to you. Or your boy. Because I love you more then I ever loved her. And I couldn't come back from the site of your heart torn from your chest." he explained, letting the chips fall where they may.

"That's interesting." she whispered, biting her lip as his eyes fell to watch the action, a thin layer of lust falling over his eyes. "Because you seem to be handling the site of it pretty well right now." she replied, pushing his chest back carefully with one hand before sucking in a breath and maneuvering around him back into her room, waiting for the sound of the door to click with his final departure.

**Does anyone know any of the songs I have used for chapter titles? Just curious:) Please review I love all of you. Hope you all had a splendid weekend. **


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